Your body is made up of at least 50% water. Your organs, skin, blood and even bones consist of a large amount of water. With this in mind, how do you keep the right balance and how much water should you drink in a day?
Water is essential in every system and function of the body, and has many responsibilities. For example, water:
Getting enough water depends on the food and beverages you consume each day. The ideal amount of water you should consume varies greatly, depending on factors such as age, weight, health, and activity level.
Your body naturally tries to maintain healthy water levels by excreting excess water in urine. The more water and fluids you drink, the more urine is produced in the kidneys.
If you don’t drink enough water, you won’t go to the bathroom as much because your body tries to conserve fluids and maintain an appropriate water level. Too little water consumption raises the risk of dehydration and possible harm to the body.
To calculate roughly how much water you should drink daily to maintain a healthy amount of water in your body, take your body weight in KG and multiply it by 0.033.
For example if you weigh 70kg, multiply that by 0.033 to give you 2.31 litres.
If you know your body weight in pounds, divide the number by 2.2 to give you your body weight in KG. Eg. 170lb ÷ 2.2 = 77.27kg
If you know your body weight in stones, then multiply the number by 6.35 to give you your body weight in KG. Eg. 13.3 stone X 6.35 = 84.45kg
There are variables that affect how much water you should drink, the main one is bodyweight which we have taken into account with the above calculation. Two other primary factors to consider are activity levels and climate, obviously both of these would increase perspiration levels, so fluids lost through sweat need to be replaced by drinking additional water.
To calculate roughly how much water was lost due to perspiration, you can weigh yourself before and after exercise. Every 1 kg of body weight lost is roughly equivalent to 1 litre of water. So for each 1 kg decrease in body weight post-exercise, drink a litre of water.
You should also take into account health conditions such as kidney stones or diabetes which may require people to drink more water. Also for pregnant or breastfeeding women, higher levels of hydration are required.
Keep in mind that you can consume water in a variety of ways. A glass of orange juice is mostly water, for instance.
Be careful, though, because caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea, or certain sodas, can have a diuretic effect. You will still retain a lot of the water in those drinks, but the caffeine will make you urinate more often, so you’ll lose more fluid than you would drinking water.
Alcohol also has diuretic properties and isn’t a healthy way to reach your water-consumption goals.
Dehydration is particularly risky with the current climate, and even more so for people exercising or working physical jobs in the hot weather.
Your perspiration will dry up more quickly accelerating the risk of dehydration, making adequate hydration even more key for active people in the hot weather.
Thirst is the most obvious sign of dehydration, but your body is actually becoming dehydrated before you feel thirsty. Dark urine, fatigue and dry mouth are signs that you’re becoming dehydrated.
Consuming enough water should be easy if you make a point of remembering to hydrate regularly throughout the day. You’re in the healthy range if your body water percentage is over 50%, so hydrating sufficiently to maintain that is key. How much water you need to drink a day depends on your bodyweight, but also activity levels and climate, so make sure to increase your water intake if you exercise regularly or during warmer weather.
Take our 30 second quiz to find out your earning potential as a Personal Trainer.
